On a whimsical afternoon, my husband and I decided we were in need of a little apartment therapy. We made a visit to Home Depot to pick up some parts to redo our apartment floors. Given we can’t change the flooring itself, I recently discovered these peel-and-stick vinyl flooring panels. We picked the honey oak color, but the walnut ember is quite nice as well. There’s also a walnut ember grey and taupe oak. They come in packs of 24 and all you need to do is clean your floors, peel, and stick on these panels.

We started by cleaning our floors and all the old grease with TSP. A little goes a long way and if you’ve ever had a hard time washing off the grime in your kitchen, TSP does the job. It’s great for cleaning off oils that have built up on your cabinet paint as well.

To get a sense of where we wanted to place the panels, we began the flooring by laying out the panels in a randomized pattern and took a picture for reference. We peeled off the liner and applied the middle panel first, then filled in the top and bottom, followed by all the surrounding panels.

A few pro-tips:

• After you’ve applied the first panel, take a ruler and measure the lengths you’ll need to cut to finish the column. If your apartment is older like ours, the walls aren’t entirely straight so measure one at a time!

• When cutting the panels to size, all you need to do is use a box cutter to score the panel. When you bend along the cut, it should easily break in two.

We took a few breaks in between, but it quickly came together into a beautiful kitchen floor. The panels themselves have a wood-like texture. We worked our way around the corners and the stove itself. To make it easier on yourself, it can be helpful to draw out a rough paper template to reference when cutting out joggles that go around the corners.

We used a little less than one box - so for a few hours and about $35, we got a new kitchen floor that we’re much happier with. I’d highly recommend these panels for anyone who’s tired of their apartment flooring. It’s made a huge difference in our mini kitchen!